Sunday, March 28, 2021
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My mother was a wonderful spirit. She could do literally anything she set her mind to. While she was all about following directions and coloring in the lines, she always encouraged my “eccentric creativity” (that’s what we’ll call it).
She a woman of many hats, a mom, a wife, a successful business WOMAN in a male dominated field, and a friend to anyone, even strangers.
I have this vivid memory of her and it really is the epitome of her wonderful-ness. I couldn’t have been older than 9 at the time, we were making our way to the car after a church service and an older woman (I thought she was 90 but realistically she was probably in her late 50s or early 60s) approached my mom.. we’d never seen her before but she looked kind of sad. Mom told me to go to the car and wait there (which, technically I did. She hadn’t specified to wait IN the car so .. nosy me stood next to it and it took me a while to understand what I had over heard). The old woman (still a stranger to us) told my mother that her own son (who was full grown) had pushed her and hit her. She told my mother that she didn’t know why she was sharing this with her but her face was so kind and this poor woman needed to talk. She wondered where she went wrong with her son and how he could be the type of person that behaves that way. My mother told the lady (this stranger) that it wasn’t her fault that her son was behaving that way, some people are sick and their behavior has no method or logic. When you love someone that is sick in a way that makes them want to hurt you, there’s nothing wrong with distancing yourself from the person and loving them from afar. She hugged the lady for what seemed like an eternity, asked the lady if she’d like to go for a coffee and talk more, she said no. Mom came back to the car in tears.. We never saw the lady again.. but that to me shows my mother’s character. Nonjudgmental, kind, open hearted, supportive, and caring.. she showed this to everyone she met regardless of age, race, size, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs. Everyone needs love and kindness and she was so great at giving that freely.
